Sectional tire.



W. E. PERRYCLEAR. sEcnowAL NRE.

1,288, APPLIlcATmN FILED MAY 2s. |911. Patented Deo. 17, 1918.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

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W. E. PERRYCLEAH. SECTIONAL TIRE. APPLICATION FILED MAY2e.I9I1.

Patented Deo. 17, 1918.

IIIIII III W. E. FERRI/CLEAR.

SECTIONAL TIRE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 2s. IsI.

l,288,1 61 y Patented Dec. 17, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

ONE-HALF T LUTHER WILSON HIGH, OF WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA.

SECTION'AL TIRE,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 317, MMS.

Application filed May 26, 1917. Serial No. 171,233.

To all tif/tom t may concern.'

Be it lrnown that I, WILLIAM EATON PER- iircniian, a citizen of the United States, residing at lSavannah, in the county of 'Chatham and State of Georgia, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Sectional Tires; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichl it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates in general to vehicle tires, and more vparticularly tov pneumatic tires for automobiles. Y

neumatic tires are recognized as affording the most perfect means for preventing the communication to the occupants of a vehicle of the jolts and jars to whichwheels are subjected.

Biiiiculty has always been experienced in theuse of tires having a continuous expansible inner tube, in ing through the outer tube into the inner one affords speedy egress for the air confined therein. Consequently the tire soon Hatte-ns and is of very little use until the inner tube is replaced or repaired. The removing of an inner tube is attended with difficulty and consumes much time,'and -if it is repaired and replaced for use, its life is normally much shortened by the operation. To overcome this dithculty attendant upon the use of a. continuous inner tube, I have devised a tube made up of sections which are constructed to be held in an outer casing in such manner as to be readily removable and when secured and connected up comprised a pra-ctically continuous iniated inner tube'. If one of the sections is punctured, or for any reason leaks and therefore collapses, either wholly or partially, the remaining sections cn either side thereof maintain their inflated condition and render the tube practically complete, and its use may be continued for a considerable period without removing the injured section. it is possible that several sections iii my construction may be injured, and the remaining ones will render the tire iirin enough for continued use.

still further object of my invention is to provide a tire each section of which can be inflated up to the pressure of the others without affecting the same, and to provide a means for defiating each section independently.

that a puncture extend- Other objects and the advantages resulting therefrom will be apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the accompanying drawings, forining .a part of this specification and in which;

Figure l is a side perspective of the upper half of the improved tire Fig. 2 a view of one of the sectional casing iiaps folded back and disclosing the inner tu e;

Fig. 3 a sectional view circumferentially of one section showing tho partition construction and valve;

Fig. al. a section on line 4 4 'of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

F ig. 6 a detailed view of the valve mechanism and filling block; and

Fig. 7 is a detailed view of the clamps for the tire flanges.

Similar reference characters are used to designate similar parts in the several figures of the drawing.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the tire proper consists of an outer casing l, provided with any desired tread surface and provided circumferentially with alternate partition members 2 and recesses 3 for the reception of sectional inner-tubes 4. And this casing is adapted to be attached to a rim 5 preferably of the demountable type by means of the clamping members 6 and 7. On one side, the inwardly projecting clamp 6 engages over the flange or bead 8 on the casing, while on the opposite side the rim is left open at the top to receive the opposite base flange or bead l() of the outer casing and which is adapted to be securely held in place by means of the sectional clam bars ll, which are provided with suitable fastening means, such as the bolts 12 arranged in pairs at the partitions and passing through the clamping members into the rim, as shown in Fig. 4.

In practice there are approximately twelve of the inner tubes, but for convenience of illustration the tire is herein shown with but six.

In order to provide access to these inner tube sections, the outer casing is constructed with a plurality of fiaps 18, formed by slitting the casing from an intermediate point i4 to the base flange 10 on each side of the partition member. As shown in the drawings. these slitted portions of the flap and paitition are not only beveled as at l5 but llt) ` the base flanges on are also flared outwardly toward the base, as shown in Fig. 2, so that when the flap is closed and clamped in place it lits snugly to the adjacent partitions and preserves t e tire contour.

In cross-section, the outer casing is composed of an outer rubber tread 1 provided with inner layers of cord or heavy twine net interwoven with rubber 16 extending from the tread portion approximatelyy midway to eac side. Located in the tire flanges or beads 8 andl() and adapted to give strength and resiliency to the outer shoe, are the spring members 22 and 23. As shown in cross-section, the former consists of a plate metal spring running circumferentially of the tire, while the other, 23, is curved in the middle to allow for'the bus pipe 36, and it is also made in sections to allow for the upfolding' of the tire flaps 13,

. as at 35, to receive t Circumferentially, the rim 5 is channeled,

he air tube 36 which is provided with a single inflation valve 37 of the type ordinarily used in automobile or bicycle wheels. Preferably' at the central portion of each section the rim 5 is recessed to receive the sectional valve mechanism, consisting of an L-shaped pipe 24 provided on its upper end with a rubber piece whereby it is made air-tightwith the inner tube.

O-n its lower end, the pipe 24 is constructed with a valve seat 3S) on which seats the valve 40 provided with inwardly and outwardly rojecting stems 41 and 42 having flat disklike heads 43 and 44 thereon. Surrounding the stem 41 and taking between the head 43 and the valve seat is the spring 45 adapted to normallyseat the valve. At the elbow 45 whereby the v lvel device may be removed.

Externally, the pipe 24 is threaded to receive a second larger pipe 46 which is likewise threaded on the -out-side from a point midway thereof to the outer end which terminates in a flanged head 47 adapted to receive a nut 43.

The circumferential air bus pipe 36, at the junction with each sectional valve, is provided witli a hollow bulged portion 49 and interiorly threaded, to receive transversely thereof the pipe 46 which latter is provided with openings 51 communicating with the bus pipe. Passing through the head 47 and nut 48 is a valve operating-stem 52 terminating within the pipe in an abutment head 53 for unseating the valve 40, and surrounding the stem 52 is a contractile spring 53 adapted to hold the stem out 0f contact with the valve stein head 44.

At each sectional valve the rim 5 is apertured, to provide access to the valve operating stem 52, and each aperture is provided with a closing device of anydesired form,

' passes pedient to let herein illustrated as a sliding door 56 having a latch 57.

As shown in Fig. 2, flap 13 is cut away, same to fit around l.shaped pipe 24.

As shown in Fig. 4, the base flanges or beads 8 and 10 are carried all the way across the base at the partition and flange, whereas between partitions the flanges are separated by a' space to permit the insertion of the L-shaped pipe 24.

As shown in Fig. 5, the rim 5 is recessed in a stepped formation, so that the bottoni of the rim recess will act as a guide to assist in alining the pipe sections 24 and 46 during their assembling.

1n order to pump up the tire, the source of air pressure is attached to the ina-in valve 37 and the air entering the bus pipe 36 into each sectional valve through the slots 51, forcing back the valves 40 and iniiating the individual sectional inner tubes.

In case one section becomes punctured, the remaining sections will be unaffected, and when the punctured inner tube collapses, the adjacent partition members of the upper leg of the the interwoven rubber and heavy twine or ,tube, the clamping bolts 12 and clamps 11 of the particular section are removed, the ap folded back whence access may be had to the inner tube thereof. the pipe 24 is provided with a closure nut ln some instances it may be found exthe air out of the adjacent sections before removing the punctured in ner tube, in which case, 'by pressing inwardly the ste-ins 52 of the adjoining sections, the valves thereof are opened and the air allowed to escape and this collapsing of these additional sections is effected without disturbing the remaining inner tubes, since each section acts as a unit.

A tire constructed as set forth has many advantages over the present single inner tube device, in that it may be run on a flat section for considerable distance without injury thereto since the remainin sections to gether with the partition sti eniiig means preserve the contour of the tire and prevent it from collapsing. y

Further, the tire can be changed without the 'usual delay and bother of jacking up the wheel, or without removing the tire` nor does it require. so much pumping to reinflate the new sect-ion since the aii will not be form a solid I claim as new. and desire to secure by Letl i ters Patent is:

'nular conduit and `a normally seated valve 1n each conduit and l. The combination of a rim, a. casing thereon, a series of innertube sections adapted to be held in said casing, an annular iniating conduit mounted in said rim and provided with an air inlet, a plurality of conduits in said rim each communicating with a section and passing through said ancommunicating therewith,

means therein adapted to be operated from the side of the rim for operating each valve to deflate each section.

he combinationr of a rim, av casing thereon, sectional inner tubes in said casing; an inlating conduit in'said rim communicating with each section, including means for independently deiiating each section projecting through the rim and mea-ns for preventing accidental opera-tion of the deiating means.

3. In combination, ar rim, a casing thereon, sectional inner tubes in said casing, an annuiar inlating conduit mounted in said rim, sleeves threaded v therethrough and perforated to communicate therewith, valve tubes connected lwith each tire section and proyided with inner threaded ends to thread into said sleeve, valves mounted in said .responding auxiliary conduit. Y In testimony whereof I affix my tubes, and rods operatively mounted in said sleeves and adapted to be projected against said-valves to unseat said valves to deilate each section independently. i

4. The combination of a rim, a casing thereon, sectional inner tubes in said casing, an annular infiating-conduit in said rim, a plurality of auxiliary conduits,each passing through said inlating-conduit and oommunicating therewith and with the corresponding tube, a normally-closed valve in y openable byv aireach auxiliary conduit pressure from said inHating-conduit to iniiate the tubes, and deHating-means for opening anyone of said valves for deflation of the corresponding tube.

`5. The combination of a rim, a casing thereon, sectional inner tubes in said casing, an annular inlating-,conduit in said rim, and a plurality of auxiliary conduits, each passing through said inflating-conduit'and communicating therewith and with the corresponding tube., said inflating-conduit being provided with bulged portions at the points where said auxiliary conduits pass therethrough, each bulge forming a chamber between said iniiating-conduit and the corsignature in the presence of two witnesses. A WILLIAM EATON PERRYCLEAR.

lfVitnesses:

W. R. Woon, L. W. HIGH. 

